New pedagogies; New technologies:

Threat or Opportunity For Open Universities?

Prof. Terry Anderson Athabasca University

Canada

• Why have Open Universities succeeded in the past??– Lower costs?– Higher quality?– Easier access?– More effective use of new technologies (even

postal mail!)?

• But, are Open Universities, a solution for the last century??

Photo courtesy of Alan Alaga alaga@ispwest.com

Theories of Disruptive Technologies

• Disruptive technologies:– Lead to profound change in

the business model, customer base or functionality of an existing organization

• Sustaining technology– Increases efficiency or

effectiveness of current product or process

Disruptive technologies

• “are typically:– cheaper, – simpler, – smaller, and, – more convenient to use" Clay Christensen (1997)– access to new users (social justice?)

• Classic examples are the micro computer, digital cameras or the innovations of the industrial model of distance education.

Principles of Open Universities

• “Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University, is dedicated to the removal of barriers that restrict access to and success in university-level study and to increasing equality of educational opportunity for adult learners worldwide.” Athabasca Mission Statement

Open Principles for Open Research

Universities should provide open access (OA) to their research output.

Universities should not limit the freedom of faculty to submit their work to the journals of their choice.

Universities …should continue to bear the costs of peer review, in order to assure its survival, while recognizing that the forms and venues of peer review are changing.

SPARC Open Access Newsletter, April 2008, by Peter Suber.

Principles of Open Scholarship

• “open scholarship has a strong ideological basis rooted in an ethical pursuit for democratization, fundamental human rights, equality”

• “open scholarship emphasizes the importance of digital participation for enhanced scholarly outcomes” - ACCESSS

Veletsiano & Kimmons (2012) Assumptions and challenges of open scholarship. IRRODL 13(4)

Principles of Open Educational Resources

• Efficiency • Openness – review, comments, revision• Access – to anyone, anywhere• Cost – FREE• Simplicity – modular, adaptable• Equality –access to all, to reduce multiple

potential disadvantages

Principles of Open Market

• Individual Rights• Limited government, spontaneous order• No entitlement, property rights• Speed to market• Responsiveness to consumer demand• Driven by potential for Profit

Values ChecklistContext Access Equality

Social Justice

Simplicity Speed Efficiency Values Total

Open University

3 3 1 1 1 9

OA Research

3 1 3 3 2 12

OER content

3 3 3 2 3 14

Private Educ.

Market

2 1 3 3 3 12

Open Market

1 1 1 3 3 8

Disruptive tech.

3 2 3 3 3 14

1= neutral 2= minor concern 3= driving principle

Values Score CardWithin Education

Context Access Equality Social Justice

Simplicity Speed Efficiency Values Total

Campus University

1 2 1 1 1 6

Open University

3 3 1 1 2 10

MOOCs (CoursEra)

3 1 3 3 3 13

People’s Univ. 3 3 3 2 2 13

MITx 3 3 3 3 2 14

Disruptive Technology

3 2 3 3 3 14

1= neutral 2= minor concern 3= driving principle

How is your Institution Threatened by New Disruptive Technologies??

Image from http://suite101.com/article/5-disruptive-innovation-myths-debunked-a218032

Four Potentially Disruptive Technologies

• Open Educational Resources (OERs)• New pedagogies• Open research• Prior Learning Accreditation

1. Open Educational Resources

a ‘perfect storm’ of:

• capacity• distribution• need

Types of OER• Learning objects, units, textbooks, scholarly articles

• Multimedia objects (Videos,Flash etc.)

• Courses, programs full curriculum

• Open Source Tools

Millions of OERs are available

ProjectGutenberg

Is your institution a contributor or a consumer?

A learning resource doesn’t become an OER unless it is licensed

aupress.ca

Canada’s first Open Access press!!

OER Disruptions

• Can you really “de-culture” educational content? Is it necessary to do so?

• How many subject matter experts do we really need?

• Am I defined by the content I produce?• Is remixing and mashing easier and faster than

creating anew?

NO FRILLS Universities• Volkswagen Fiat, Ryanair, Walmart, Easyjet

Anderson & McGreal (in press)

NO FRILLS• banking, groceries, department stores, travel

agencies, accommodations, mobile telephony, stock brokering

Education has been relatively

immune from such disruptive

technologies

No-Frills dangers for Open Universities

• Students may abandon full-service

• Discount service could replace it

• May reduce sustainability of full-service

However in other sectors, low cost

providers induce innovation & do not kill off mainstream (eg. airlines, banking)

Open University Services• content development & instructional design• student support• distribution/sales• library services• research faculty & grads • direct instruction, tutors • registration services • social servicesCan we afford and do students need them all?

2. New Pedagogies

• Generations of Dist. Educ. Pedagogies1. Cognitive Behaviourist2. Constructivist3. Connectivist

Behaviourist/Cognitive Pedagogy Is:

• Logically coherent, existing independent of perspective or context

• Capable of being transmitted• Assumes closed systems with discoverable

relationships between inputs and outputs• Readily defined through learning objectives• Works best when produced using industrial

models – scaleable• Substitutes student-content interaction for

student-student and student-teacher interaction

Constructivist Knowledge

• Created rather than transmitted• Confirmed and validated socially• Benefits from challenge and contradiction

30

Constructivist DE Pedagogy• Group Orientated• Membership and exclusion, closed • Not scalable• Classroom at a distance• Hierarchies of control• Focus on collaboration and shared purpose

group

Connectivist Knowledge

• Is created by linking to appropriate people and objects

• May be created and stored in non human devices

• Is as much about capacity as current competence

• Assumes the ubiquitous Internet

Connectivist DE Pedgaogy2004

• Helps learners create and sustain new networks• Focuses on creation and building of network artifacts• Stresses exposure, filtering, referral and re-purposing• Is scalable• Is international

George Siemens,

Disruptions of Connectivism

• Demands net proficiency of students and teachers

• Openness is scary• New roles for teachers and

students• As yet, only emergent

business models

http://cogdogblog.com/2012/07/17/mooc-hysertia/

Is your Open University exploiting both the old and the

New Pedagogies?

3. Open Research

Free subscriptions at www.iroodl.org

Open research - Self-Archiving in Institutional Repositories

• Public duty to disseminate information• Increases personal and intuitional web

presence• Visible indicator of Open University

contribution

“The results reveal, however, that there is still a great need for promotion in order to create more awareness. If Malaysian universities want institutional repositories to be successful, then authors need to be educated on the importance of self archiving articles into institutional repositories” Singeh, Abrizah & Karim (2012)What inhibits authors to self-archive in Open Access repositories?

How Can Open Universities Succeed and make a Difference

(values) ??• Strategic Research Focus

• Scholarship of Teaching• Ed Tech R & D• E-learning spinoffs

• Open Data/ Open Research• Open Access to Results

– Does your University demand public archiving?

4. Alternative Credentialing

• From measuring time to measuring learning.• Competency rather than credit based• Measuring the learning, not the source of that

learning• Decoupling assessment from teaching

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Coursera Hits 1 Million Students, With Udacity Close Behind (Chronicle of Higher Education Aug. 2012)

• Is your Institution ready to Credential learning from other sources – even MOOCs??

Open Courses From America Find Eager Audiences in China

Chronicle of Higher Education Oct. 3, 2012

Colorado State Becomes the First American University to Accept MOOCs for Credit

MOOCs

edX’s course Circuits & Electronics: 155,000 students registered 23,000 earned a single point on the first problem set, 9,300 passed the midterm. 8,200 students took the final. 7,000 earned a passing grade and the option of receiving

an informal certificate from edX

from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/12/

Credentialing through Mozilla

Open Badges

Open Educational Resource University - OERu

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition

Values of Disruptive TechnologiesContext Access Equality

Social Justice

Simplicity Speed Efficiency Total

OERs 3 3 2 2 3 13

New Pedagogies

3 2 2 3 2 12

Open Research

3 3 3 3 3 15

Alternative Credentialing

3 3 2 1 3 12

Disruptive Technology

3 2 3 3 3 14

1= neutral 2= minor concern 3= driving principle

• How can your university exploit and benefit from these four disruptions?

Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca

Blog: terrya.edublogs.org

Your comments and questions most welcomed!

http://www.slideshare.net/terrya/new-pedagogies-new-technologies-disruptive-threats-to-open-universities or http://tinyurl.com/9nxr74f